Ecris Williams was born in Berlin in 1938. She grew up in a city torn apart by World War II. She survived it. Her parents did not.
She eventually married, moved to the United States, and raised her children here. And somewhere along the way, a German Olympian told her something simple that changed her life: put one foot in front of the other.
She never stopped.
What Her Week Looks Like at 86
Williams lifts weights every Tuesday and Thursday. On Wednesdays, she runs competitively. Twice a week, she teaches water aerobics at the World Gate Athletic Club in Virginia.
On a longer run day, she covers five or six miles. Not a short stroll. Five or six miles.
Williams told Aging Untold that exercise is not optional for her.
“I have to exercise. I have to keep the cardio up. I have a congenital heart defect. I was a preemie.”
She was born early, has lived with a heart condition her whole life, and she is out there logging miles well into her eighties. That puts a lot of excuses in perspective.
Her Advice for Anyone Who Thinks They Can’t
When asked about people whose health limits their ability to move, Williams did not offer sympathy. She offered something more useful.
“Mind over matter. It could be worse.”
She has seen things that most of us only read about in history books. That shapes how she looks at a hard day.
“I have seen too much destruction. I have seen too much misery. Don’t say, ‘Ugh, what’s going to happen?’ Get up and say, ‘Thank you, dear God.’ Every day, thank God for the day.”
For anyone unhappy with how their body feels or looks, her message is equally direct: do something about it through exercise.
Williams also told Aging Untold that despite all that activity, she jokes that she “looks like a prune.” She said it with a laugh. Her body, she added, is in a good place.
A wartime survivor. A preemie with a heart condition. An 86-year-old who teaches other people how to move. If that does not make you want to lace up your shoes, read it again.